Tom Hanks and Jonathan Groff are both headed back to Broadway: what we know about their new plays

Two big names announced Broadway returns this week. Tom Hanks will bring his play This World of Tomorrow to Broadway in fall 2027, and Jonathan Groff will star alone onstage in The Amish Project at the Broadhurst Theatre starting in February.

Tom Hanks: This World of Tomorrow

Hanks co-wrote the play with James Glossman, and it will play a Shubert-owned theater that has not been named yet, Playbill reported Thursday. Tony winner Kelli O'Hara returns as his co-star, and Tony winner Kenny Leon directs again. The three did the play's world premiere at The Shed in 2025.

The play is based on Hanks' short stories. He plays Bert Allenberry, a scientist at the end of the 21st century who travels back, again and again, to a single day at the 1939 New York World's Fair in Queens, where he falls for a woman named Carmen, played by O'Hara, according to Broadway.com. Playbill said the day is June 8, 1939.

It will be Hanks' first Broadway run in more than 14 years. He made his Broadway debut in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy, earning a Tony nomination. Full cast, creative team and theater details have not been announced, and there are no ticket dates yet.

Jonathan Groff: The Amish Project

Groff, who won a Tony for Merrily We Roll Along and most recently starred in Just in Time, will perform The Amish Project, a solo play by Jessica Dickey directed by Sarna Lapine, producers announced Friday in a Shubert Organization release. Groff performs it alone.

The play responds to a tragedy at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 20 years ago this month, and the community's act of forgiveness that followed. The release says the events unfolded minutes from where Groff grew up. The play premiered Off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in 2009 after starting at the New York International Fringe Festival.

• Where: Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St., Theater District.
• First performance: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2027.
• Presale: Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, at 10 a.m. ET on Telecharge, for fans who sign up at AmishProjectBroadway.com.
• General sale: Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 10 a.m. ET at Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200.

CBS New York covered both announcements on Friday.